


Physically stuck in traffic, mentally stuck on you

by boy101



Series: What's said between us stays between us (and our friends) [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Confessions, Dialogue Heavy, Getting Together, M/M, Post-Canon, least creative title in the universe, so kuroo's 19 and tsukki's 17, they're both two years older
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 17:56:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7724212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boy101/pseuds/boy101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh c’mon Tsukki! What happens in the car stays in the car.” </p><p>“That’s disgusting.” </p><p>“Fine, what’s said in the car stays in the car, happy?” </p><p>---- </p><p>Or: Kuroo and Tsukki get stuck in traffic for four hours and are forced to talk to each other, also Tsukki is convinced Kuroo is actually just a thirteen year old in disguise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Physically stuck in traffic, mentally stuck on you

“‘ _Don’t worry Tsukki! I’ll get you to Tokyo in time Tsukki! I got this Tsu_ …’”

“OK OK, I get it. ”  Kuroo dropped his forehead onto the steering wheel with an audible ‘thunk’. “In my defense I couldn’t have possibly predicted there’d be traffic jam this bad. And I don’t sound like that.”

“You do.” Tsukishima looked out the passanger side window. “It’s not like I needed to go to that college interview anyway… or no wait, yeah that’s right I really fucking did.”

“Aw, are you that excited to go to the same college as me? I’m flattered Tsukki.” Kuroo grinned at the blond and got an over exaggerated eyeroll in return. “You’re going on a volleyball scholarship and your grades are good anyway so it’ll be fine.” Tsukishima just huffed in response.

They’d been stuck in traffic for nearly three hours. They were an hour and a half away from Tokyo and two hours from Miyagi - not that it actually mattered as they couldn’t move in either direction.

While they were still moving it hadn’t been all that bad. Truth be told Tsukishima had been sort of grateful when Kuroo had offered to drive him. Kuroo had proposed he drove down the day before and spent the day with him in Miyagi. He could then spend the night in the Tsukishima household and then Tsukishima could go back with him to Tokyo the day after. Tsukishima appreciated not having to sit on a stuffy and crowded train for countless hours so he accepted. In retrospect the train had probably been better.

However he didn’t mind Kuroo’s company even half as much as he’d say he did if someone asked. Having Kuroo there also meant he had someone to make sure he didn’t get lost on campus - again. Last time he’d been there to check out the school had been a disaster. In the end he had reluctantly called Kuroo who agreed to show him around. He had expected teasing but there had been remarkably little of it.

Kuroo’s taste in music wasn’t so bad either. The playlist he’d put on was mostly songs Tsukishima recognised and quite a few of them he even liked. If he had started singing along to the songs with Kuroo after less than half an hour well, no one needed to know that.

All and all it had been kind of nice in the car until they’d traveled along the highway for almost an hour. The traffic had started slowing down and eventually it had come to a full stop. So now there they were, three hours later not having moved an inch.

The radio had been massively unhelpful, in Tsukishima’s opinion, as all the news had to offer was that the queues were created by an accident and it looked like traffic would be still for quite a while. Tsukishima had scoffed at that. They’d been still for over an hour when the news anchor had said that - he already knew they weren’t moving thank you very much.

Kuroo had turned of the car’s engine and the electricity too. They didn’t know how long they’d have to stay there and if they emptied the car battery before they could start moving again they’d cause yet another queue. It didn’t matter all that much though. It was cloudy so the AC wasn’t needed and they settled on listening to music from Kuroo’s phone’s speakers which was fine.

“Well... “ Kuroo said after they had been quiet for a while. “At least both of us peed before we left the house.”

“That’s the most pathetic excuse for a conversation starter I think I’ve ever heard.”

“Worth a shot.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You didn’t seem all that eager to continue the conversation about how this might screw up your chances with the college.”

Tsukishima made a pained groaning sound, “I hate you.”

“No you don’t. Anyway you did email them right?”

“Of course I did.”

“Then it’ll be fine.”

Tsukishima hummed in response. “I like this song.” He said after a while when the pop song that had been playing had changed to something a little less upbeat.

“Really? I give it a seven out of ten, maybe just six point five.”

“It’s an eight at least.”

“Tsukki… you’re so young and naive.” Kuroo said as he reached for his phone and started scrolling through the playlist they were listening to. “Here. This one’s an eight at least.”

“You’re only two years older than me you ass, and it’s a seven.” He said.

“Four,” Kuroo decided when the song changed again.

“Only barely. Skip to the next one.”

“Oh! Nine!” Kuroo said when he heard the first notes of the song that came next. They kept going like that for a while. If both of them agreed it was under a five the song would be skipped and when both thought it was an eight or higher it turned into a singalong, no matter how hard Tsukishima tried not to get swept along with it.

“I would never have thought you were the type to do carpool karaoke, Tsukki.” Kuroo said as the third song they’d both rated an eight or higher came to an end.

“I’m not.”

“You clearly are.” He smirked,” don’t worry though I won’t tell anyone, your secret is safe with me.” He winked at Tsukishima who had to look out the passenger seat window to hide the slight blush forming on his cheeks.

“There’s no secret.”

“So you admit you’re into carpool karaoke, ha!”

“No! That’s not what I… actually fuck it, fuck you.”

“Tsukki!” He gasped, feigning a scandalised expression, “At least buy me dinner first.”

“Why are we friends.” Tsukishima deadpanned.

“I like to think it’s the combination of my irresistible charm, good looks and outstanding intellect.” Kuroo said while grinning wide and gesturing to his entire body as best he could with the seatbelt and confinement of the car hindering his movements.

Tsukishima didn’t answer, he just lifted his glasses and rubbed the ridge of his nose whilst sighing loudly. “Seriously though,” Kuroo continued, “Now that I think about it, I feel like there’s so much I don’t know about you.”

“Why are you making that sound so dramatic. Anyway I’ve known you for almost three years, we talk all the time, I know more about you than I want to thanks.”

“Yeah but that’s all about cat memes and school and volleyball.”

“And who’s fault is that? I have never sent you, or anyone, a cat meme in my life.”

“There was that one time you got shitfaced with Yamaguchi.”

Tsukishima’s eyes widened for a second. “We don’t talk about that.”

“Fine. But what I mean is that I don’t know things that you would reveal in something like a truth or dare game, things like first kisses and embarrassing stuff. You never go to parties. Which I guess is good because you’re tiny but…”

“I’m seven centimeters taller than you.” Tsukishima interrupted with a scowl on his face. “Besides I live hours away from you and whatever parties you might attend, although I can’t see why anyone would want you at their party.” He ignored the offended look on Kuroo’s face.

“Details details. Anyway. Let’s just take turns asking each other questions, yeah?”

“No.”

“Oh c’mon Tsukki! What happens in the car stays in the car.”

“That’s disgusting.” Tsukishima scrunched up his face.

“Fine, what’s _said_ in the car stays in the car, happy?”

“I’m still not doing it.” Tsukishima had half a mind to just open the door and leave. It’s not like the cars could run him over when they were all still, and he couldn’t get lost if he just walked along a straight highway that had signs everywhere.

“Yes you are. You can just pass questions. Please Tsukki?” Kuroo looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Fine.” He said curtly. _This is not ending well,_ he thought.

He had long since admitted that he had a thing for Kuroo. That time almost a year ago when he had, as Kuroo put it, ‘got shitfaced with Yamaguchi’ had been the tipping point. Before that he was happy living in denial. However waking up with a hangover and a text conversation with Kuroo that consisted of five consecutive messages from Tsukishima that were all cat themed pickup lines had been hard to ignore. He had been too embarrassed to talk to Kuroo for a week after that but the older teen had somehow soothed his anxieties and two weeks after the incident they were back to talking as usual.

“Great! I’ll go first!” Kuroo looked way too excited for Tsukishima to feel comfortable with the situation. “So! First kiss?”

“Some girl in my class this year. It was in the classroom, she was dared to do it.”

“Wait so she just came up to you and kissed you out of the blue? That’s amazing.”

“Pretty much. She cried afterwards. I didn’t even say anything to her.”

“And that’s your only kiss, right? Since it was just this year I mean.” Tsukishima nodded. Kuroo looked at him in disbelief for a second before laughing hard enough to need to bend over and rest his forehead on the steering wheel. “Holy fuck.” He managed to get out in a wheeze.

“It’s really not that funny.” He felt a little bit offended honestly.

“It kinda is.” Kuroo said after calming down. “Your first and only kiss was on a dare you weren’t even involved in and she cried.”

Tsukishima snorted. “OK, fair enough. My turn then, what was your first kiss like?”

“You can’t just copy my question, that’s no fun Tsukki.”

“You really expected me to care enough to come up with my own questions? You’re right you really don’t know anything about me. But fine, I’ll come up with something else” he ignored the look of triumph on Kuroo’s face, “last person you had an inappropriate fantasy about?”

“Pass.” Kuroo suddenly looked a lot paler than he had just the second before, the amusement still lingering on his face clearly forced. “Ask something else.”

“OK…” Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “What’s the reason you won’t answer it?”

“You know them, and pretty well actually.” Kuroo fiddled with his hands in his lap, not looking up at Tsukishima as he answered.

“That’s gross, I’m glad you didn’t tell me then.” He ignored the way his stomach dropped at what Kuroo had said. That the other didn’t like him back was obvious - why would he - but if this meant he did like someone else, and someone he knew well at that, it made it a lot worse. “Your turn.”

“Oh, right. Uhm… I guess asking any questions about your sexlife is pointless then?” Tsukishima fixed him with a deadpan expression, Kuroo sniggered. “Do you _like_ like someone?”

“‘ _Like_ like’, seriously? How old are you, thirteen?” Tsukishima laughed.

“Oh shut up. Just answer will you.”

“Fine then, I do. My turn. Do you ‘ _like_ like’ the person you didn’t want to tell me the name of from the last question?” He asked, making sure to sound as mocking as possible when saying ‘ _like_ like’, hoping it would disguise the dread that had settled in his stomach as a small lump of ice.

“I do. Who do you like?”

“Pass.”

“What does the person you like look like?”

“Pass.”

“How do you know the person you like?”

“Pass.”

“Is the person you like…”  

“Don’t!” Tsukishima interrupted. They had both spoken faster and faster from the first question and the tension was palpable between them. The upbeat electropop song playing from Kuroo’s phone felt so out of place Tsukishima almost reached out to turn it off. He figured silence would be worse though so he let it be.

“Sorry.” Kuroo at least had the decency to look ashamed.

“Whatever.”

No one said anything for a while. He looked at the clock on his phone, they’d been still for four hours now. The songs all sounded like a five at most to Tsukishima and he prayed for the traffic to start moving again, just so something would break the tense situation they had somehow ended up in.

“I’ll tell you who I like if you tell me who you like.” Kuroo said. Barely loud enough to carry over the music.

“Do you talk like a young teenage girl on purpose?” Tsukishima tried to joke. He really didn’t feel like talking about this more, he didn’t want to make it obvious even without actually telling Kuroo.

“C’mon. Who knows how long we’ll be stuck here.” He motioned out the front window of the car, countless other cars were lined up in front of them. There were no signs that anything would get moving anytime soon. “The only way out of the tension is through it.”

“I really doubt that.”

“Why not?” Kuroo sounded strangely desperate to Tsukishima.

“Fine.” He spat out. He’d been stuck in traffic for four hours, missed his college interview, hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast almost seven hours earlier, slept like shit because Kuroo had been right there on a futon next to him in his room and now he was about to have it confirmed to him that his crush wasn’t reciprocated. He just wanted to curl up in his bed at home and pretend nothing of this ever happened. “You first.”

Kuroo took a deep breath before saying “you.”

Tsukishima felt a small spark of hope flare up in the back of his mind before it quickly died out, of course that didn’t mean what he wanted it to mean. He looked towards Kuroo who was looking straight out the window in front of him. “No, it was your idea so you say it first.” He said, looking out the window like Kuroo.

“No that’s not what I meant.” The almost desperate tone was still there but now he also sounded tired. It probably wasn’t just Tsukishima who was suffering from being stuck in traffic for four hours. “The person I like is you.” He added quickly, before he could lose his courage.

“Oh.” Tsukishima felt almost numb. There was a beat of silence before what Kuroo had said really sank in and he couldn’t help it - he started laughing.

“That’s unnecessary.” Kuroo looked so hurt it immediately made him calm down again.

“No. No I’m not laughing at you I don’t even know why I’m laughing. It’s just that all this tension was so stupid then. I can’t… I can’t believe we’re both actually thirteen year olds oh god.” He said, almost laughing again.

Kuroo looked at him, still with a look of hurt on his face but now it had a great deal of confusion mixed in. “I don’t get it.”

“I like you too.” Tsukishima said, keeping his eyes on the car in front of them rather than on Kuroo. He could feel the other staring at him and just as he was sure Kuroo would speak up the car he’d been looking at started almost vibrating faintly and the lights on it lit up and then, slowly slowly, it started moving. “Kuroo!” He said, interrupting him mid-breath, "It’s moving!”

He looked back at Kuroo whose eyes were fixed on him for a second, his mouth still open from when he was about to speak, before he startled back to reality and looked at the car in front of them. He turned the key in the ignition and the car rumbled to life.

In a speed they both were pretty sure they could walk faster than they and the cars around them started moving forward again. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well. That was a mood killer if I’ve ever seen one.” Kuroo spoke up after a while.

“I really don’t care. I just want to get out of this fucking car.”

Kuroo laughed. “Yeah, me too. Hey, when we get to Tokyo it should be around early dinner time, want to make it a date?” He took his eyes of the road for a second to grin at Tsukishima.

Tsukishima’s cheeks turned pink and he turned away to avoid Kuroo noticing. “Fine. But you’re paying.”

“Sounds good to me.” Kuroo said with a large smile on his face as he plugged his phone into the car speakers and turned up the music. The rest of the journey they both deemed all songs to be an eight or higher.

**Author's Note:**

> I hate the way this reads, sorry. I'm having massive writer's block and I just wanted to get something out there.
> 
> Kudos and comments (especially concrit) is super appreciated ❁
> 
> EDIT: ok this isn't important I just thought of it as I reread this looking for mistakes, but please consider Tsukki's face when he later that night realises that this means Kuroo's had an 'inappropriate fantasy' about him :-)
> 
> ( [Come talk to me on tumblr](http://hinata-kenma.tumblr.com/) )


End file.
